October 13, 2026 03:05 am (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
Delhi Police de-notifies Jantar Mantar as protest site amid CJP stir over Gyanesh Kumar | 'Gyanesh Kumar will not escape': Rahul Gandhi issues warning amid voting rights row | 'Supreme Court doors open for all': CJI Surya Kant breaks silence on refusing to meet INDIA bloc over Gyanesh Kumar row | 'Undeclared Emer-GenZ': Shashi Tharoor slams Delhi curbs over CJP protests, calls internet shutdown 'most regressive' | ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’, ‘Inquilab Zindabad’: CJP leader Abhijeet Dipke dares Delhi Police to arrest him, says ‘We are not afraid’ | CJP protest crackdown? Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka detained from inside flight | Dhruv Rathee detained ahead of CJP protests against CEC Gyanesh Kumar as Delhi goes on high alert | ‘Restriction, not complete closure’: Supreme Court questions Delhi shutdown ahead of CJP protest | 'Unwarranted': India hits back at JD Vance over ‘indentured servants’ remark amid US Green Card crackdown | US targets Microsoft, Infosys, Tata in green card crackdown
Swami Vivekananda

My book on Vivekananda a summary of how he helped me to deal with questions: Journalist-author Anshul Chaturvedi

| @indiablooms | Jul 22, 2021, at 06:49 pm

Journalist-author Anshul Chaturvedi's book on Swami Vivekananda, titled The Vivekananda Handbook for Everyday Living, was officially launched on Jun 28 this year. Days after it was launched, Chaturvedi spoke about the book in a candid conversation at The Write Circle Special, organised by Prabha Khaitan Foundation and presented by Shree Cement. IBNS correspondent Souvik Ghosh brings some excerpts 

What kind of a book is The Vivekananda Handbook for Everyday Living?

This is not a scholarly analysis of his religious views, but a narration of the practicality of his thoughts to our daily life. It is not an academic work - there are already many such works on him - but more of a travelogue where Vivekananda is the travel guide.
 
What is the reason behind writing this book?

I didn't write this as a gyan (pontification) . The idea is that the book should be easy to comprehend and implement – not be read as an intimidating religious book primarily about the greatness of the person concerned. The reason the book hasn't come along that way is also because of the same philosophy which this individual (Swami Vivekananda) planted into my head very early when I was younger and more combative.
 

So this is your account of how you perceive Vivekananda.

I kept the book to what I have practically experienced – how I saw him through my eyes. That is it. In the last 100 years, many scholars have written about him. So I did not need to reiterate his greatness. I am not qualified to comment on his personality – his stature and intellect are immense. I am qualified to comment on how he has shaped my thinking.

Swami Vivekandanda is often described as the Vedantic scientist. Could you please elaborate on this?
 
I am not qualified to elaborate on this simply because I have not tried to analyse what he spoke on philosophy or abstraction. I don't want to be a priest and get into the nuance of what he is. My book is a summary of how he helped me deal with my questions. Beyond that, I don't decode him because so many people have already done that. 
 
 
With ancient philosophy and religion (as a way of life) not included in our education system, how do we expect the ATM-Paytm generation to identify with these teachings?
 
 The education system is such a construct where decisions are taken by higher level of people. So we general people can't take the call of modifying the education system. I didn't observe Vivekananda through the education system. So I did not need him to get introduced to me in school. We can just put out easy-to-consume content about him for readers. 

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.